Humidifier



Nov. 30,1937. s. E. SCHROEDER I 2,

'- HUMIDIFIER Original Filed Oct. 19, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i'wmzw JmaMESC/flraedar Nov. 30,- 1937. s. IE. SCHRQEDIER 1 54 1 v I HUMIDIFIER Original Filed Oct. 19, 19:51 2 She et s- Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 30, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application October 19, 1931, Serial No. 569,587

Renewed June 15, 1936 10 Claims. (oi. 261-29) This invention relates to humidifiers of the yp in which the air is moistened by passing produce a novel electrically-operated humidifier in the form of a self-contained unit which is completely automatic in its operation so that the operating mechanism will be automatically started a and stopped under control of the degree of humidity in the room. v

A further object is to provide a novel automatic humidifier of the character above outlined comprising a controlling humidostat having a wet and dry element control and means for automatically maintaining the wet element in moistened condition. I

Another object is to provide an humidifier ema novel relationship between the casing or cabinet on the one hand and the operating mechanism on the other so that the operating mechanism may be readily withdrawable and interchangeable to permit of inspection and repair thereof.

A further object is to provide a novel and improved humidifier which operates to effect a circulationof the air in the room, to wash the air, 1alrlid tiir maintain the desired degree of humidity in e, a Another object is to provide an humidifier having an outlet closure which is automatically operable upon the starting and stopping of the operating mechanism to cause said closure to be opened or closed.

Another object of the invention is to increase the efliciency of humidifiers of this type by direct.-

ing the air current therethrough in a manner to absorb and entrain a maximum quantity of moisture.

Other objects and advantages will become ap- 0 parent as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings: Figurel is a perspective view of an humidifier embodying the features of this invention.-

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken approx- 55 mounted on the cabinet.

In the exemplary form illustrated in the drawings, the invention is embodied in an humidifier of the portable cabinet type in which a casing I0 defines a vertical passageway into which air is drawn through one or more inlet openings I i near 6 the base of the casing and discharged through an opening I 2 located in the upper portion thereof. This upward circulation of air through the casing i0 is induced'by a fan l3 driven by an electric motor l4 connected .by a lead M to the power 1 supply and in such circulation the air is exposed to a water spray which properly humidifies the air before leaving the casing. The spray is here produced by a rotating horizontally disposed member l5 supplied with water by a pump l6 dip- 1S ping into a reservoir of-water maintained in the bottom of the casing ID for that purpose. By the centrifugal force of rotation the water on the surface of the member I! is disintegrated and thrown from its periphery in the form of afine 2o mist or'spray.

The pump i6 and themember l5 as well as the fan l3 are fast on the shaft I! or an extension i8 of the shaft of the motor I 4 and thus form a unitary structure which is rigidified by a frame I9 25 which also forms a support for suspending the structure within the casing. The frame i9 comprises a metal ring 20 which is attached to a I housing 2| for the motor by upwardly extending braces 22, and to the pump l6 by downwardly ex- 30 tending braces 23 thereby securingthe parts rigidly in their proper relationship without permanent attachment to stationary parts within the casing. Supporting the frame I9 is a flange 24 attached to the casing substantially midway 35 thereof. Preferably rubber pads 25 attached to the ring 2i! and lodged in depressions 26 in'the flange are employed to hold the parts in position and prevent the noises of a metal-to-metal contact. v, 40

With this rigid construction and manner of. support the "unit is well adapted for bodily removal and for this purpose the. casing Ill is equipped with a hinged cover 21 and a removable hood 28. casing by resting at its'lower edge on a flange 28. An upturned periphery on the flange 28 forms of the flange a trough in which water accumulates to seal the connection between the hood and casing against the leakage of air. Repairs to any member ofthe unit and cleaning of the interior of the casing may thus be conveniently ef fected upon removal of the unit.

To prevent local or eddy currents of air around the ring 20 which would impair the efiiciency of a The hood 28 is supported within the 45 the fan, a washer 29 of any flexible material, such as rubber, is clamped to the outer edge of the ring and extended to overlap the annular flange 24. Either as a resultof the operation or" the humidifier or a direct act of an attendant, water accumulates in the trough formed by the flange and the washer thereby effectively sealing the washer and preventing a circulation of air around the ring.

'In order that the air passing through the easing l0 absorb as much moisture as possible, the spray to which it is exposed should consist of very minute particles. To produce a spray of that character, the member I5 is adapted to successively subdivide the water particles by the provision, in efiect, of a plurality of concentric disks of increasing radius, each constituting a stage in the subdivision of the water particles. A portion of these disks are here formed by a plate 30 fast on the shaft 11 of the motor and having a pair of circumferential ridges 3| varying in diameter with the outer ridge projecting above the inner one. The periphery of the plate 30 is turned gradually upward to form a rounded flange 32.

Rigid with but spaced from the plate 30 is an annular plate 33 having a flange 34 conforming in contour with and fitting; within the flange 32 to form therewith a peripheral nozzle. The plate 33 is also formed with an inwardly projecting circumferential ridge 35 of smaller radius than and extending below the top of the inner ridge of the plate 30. Also rigid with the lower plate 30 is a third plate 36 having a sharp peripheral flange 31 lying in a plane above the ridge 35 of the upper plate. The plate 36 thus constitutes the inner- I most disk of the series formed by the ridges on the plates.

It is apparent from the description that the ridges lie in different horizontal planes so that the water which is discharged onto the plate 36 by a pipe 38 leading from the pump l6,'will, in its outward travel, be successively intercepted and again discharged by a disk whose peripheral velocity is greater than thedisk from which the water particles were received. The particles of water will thus impinge against the ridges with continually increasing velocity to bemore and more subdivided as they pass from one stage to the next. An extremely fine mist results whichis discharged from between the plates through the peripheral nozzle formed thereby upwardly in the direction of air flow. In that manner the flne mist particles are more easily picked up by the air current and a larger space within the casing I0 is filled with the spray in contrast to the conditions resulting from the. use of a single disk which discharges the spray transversely of the air flo against the sides of the casing.

To further'increase the velocity at-iwhich the spray particles impinge the ridges and at which the particles aredischargedfrom between the plates means may be employed'which produces an injector action in the inner'portion of the passageway between the plates and a direct action in the outer portion. Such'means is here provided by the-formation of circumfer'entially" spaced apertures 38 in-tlie lower plate 30. Preferably these apertures are formed in the outwardly sloping faces of the ridges 3i. The air, entering the aperture will then be directed radially outwardly sweeping with it. the mist particles lying outwardly of the. inner ridge 3| and creating backof that ridge a vacuum drawingairinto the passageway. The mixing of air and the spray particles within the plates and the increased velocity of the spray particles resulting from this construction serve to decrease materially the size of the spray particles.

A high air pressure immediately beneath the plate 30 is here obtained by constructing the fan l3 of individual blades 40 rigid with the lower plate 30. This not only assures a high pressure forcing the air into the apertures 39, but forms a rigid structure having all revolving. parts mounted on the shaft ll near the motor bearing to prevent vibration.

The air circulating through the directed with respect to the humidifying means in a manner to be exposed successively to finer spray particles as the humidity of the air rises. In this manner the efliciency of the humidifier is a maximum, because the incoming air, which has the greatest capacity for moisture, is exposed to water in its least .absorbable form while the more nearly saturated air is exposed to theflner and more readily absorbable moisture particles. For this purpose the inlet opening II to the casing is located immediately above the reservoir and has within the casing a cap 4| directing the air downwardly onto the water'in the reservoir. The

- air next contacts with the drops of water falling walls 43, a front wall 44 and a connecting brace 00 45. The front wall terminates in a lip 46 curved to direct the air current-upwardly as it leaves the outlet opening. Directing the air current within the casing l0 toward the outlet opening is the hood 28 having a curved top and converging side walls conforming to the size of the opening. It will be seen that the air passageway gradually converges and culminates in the discharge opening of the deflecting" member 42 at which point it is of minimum cross-section to impart maximum velocity to the air current as it is discharged. With the air issuing from the side of the casing and then directed upwardly' only the lighter mist particles will be mechanically entrained and discharged into the room while the coarser particles will be dropped out of the air current because of the changes in direction. The construction thus avoids a deposit or moisture on the top of the humidifier which would result if the spray were discharged vertically through the top and condensation of the mist on the surrounding furnishings which might result if the spray were discharged horizontally from the opening l2. Y I v 1 In the present instance the deflecting member ing and closing the outlet in accordance with the operation of the' humidifier. pivoted at" (see Fig. 2) in the walls of the C889 ing in and has attached to its. counter-balancing weight 48 tending normally to swing the member to closed position which it does assume when the humidifier is not operating. When the humidifier is placed in operation the air pressure created within the. casing acting on the front ,wall. 44 of the deflecting member overcomes the effect of the weight 48 and'tilts the member outwardly where it is held by the impact of the current of air. passing through the humidifier against casing III is' 42' projecting from the outlet opening also func- -tions as a valve or damper automatically open- The member 42 is l deflecting member.

For controlling the operation of the humidifier in accordance with the relative humidity of the room in which the humidifier is located, I provide a humidostat 49 mounted on the side of the casing l0 exteriorly thereof and protected by a grilledshield. The humidostat 49 is of the wet and dry element type, disclosed in my copendlng application Serial No. 512,926, filed February 2, v 1931, having thermal coils 50 and 5|, the latter of which is enclosed by a tubular wick supplied with water by feeder wicks 52 dipping into a container 53 mounted. within the casing. Actuated by the relative movement of the coils is a switch 54 controlling the operation of the motor l4. The humidostat is adjustable to maintain different relative humidities.

In'order that the humidostat operate properly the wet coil 5| must be maintained moist at all times. Provision is here made to supply such moisture automatically from the water employed in humidifying the air. To that end, there is mounted on the interior of the side wall of the hood 28 troughs 55 sloping toward a common point from which a pipe 56 leads to the container 53 supplying moisture to the wet element. The moisture condensing on the side wall will thus be intercepted by the troughs 55 as it runs down the wall and delivered to the container. An adequate supply of water for maintaining the wet coil moist at all times is thus assured without particular attention.

The humidostat, as shown in detail in- Figs; 6 and 7, is adapted to be mounted on the-cabinetv as a unit and for this purpose comprises a base 51 supporting the coils 50 and 5|. For purposes of adjustment, the coil 50 is mounted on a rotatable shaft 58 projecting through the base and carrying an arm 59 fast on its inner end. Engaging the free end of the arm 59 by means of a pin and slot connection is an arm 60 fast on a shaft 6| carrying an adjusting lever 62. Movement of the lever 62 thus rotates the coil 5|! to raiseor lower the end of the switch supported by it thereby changing .the relative humidity at which the switch 54 opens and closes. The lower end of the lever 62 projects outwardly through an arcuate slot in the shield for convenient adjustment. a

Mounted on the base 51 immediately below the wet element 5| is a drip pan 63 positioned to catch any excess supply of moisture to the element. Apipe 64 returns the water collected by the pan to the reservoir in the bottom of the casing.

Assuming that the relative humidity of the room in which the humidifier is located is above the value for which the humidostat is adjusted, the motor M will thus be idle and the deflecting member 42 tilted within the casing to the dotted position shown in Fig. 2. Upon a drop in the'relative humidity the humidostat will close the switch 54 thereby initiating the operation of the motor l4 and all parts of the humidifying apparatus driven thereby. The pump l6 will supply water from the reservoir through the pipe 38 to the inner plate 36 from where it will be drawn radially outwardly finally discharged into the upper portion of the casing in the form of a fine mist.

Rotation of the fan I3 will build up within the upper portion of the casing a pressure head of suflicient magnitude to overcome the effect of the counterbalance Weight 48 and will tilt the deflecting member 42 to its outward or open position. The air thus permitted tocirculate is drawn into the casing through the inlet II where it is deflected by the cap 4| onto the surface of the water in the reservoir which is agitated by the drops of excess water falling back into the reservoir. Being comparatively dry, the air so entering absorbs some moisture directly from the reservoir. It then passes upwardly through the more readily absorbable water particles falling from the supporting structureand finally through the fan into the zonefilled with the extremely fine mist particles which are not only absorbed but mechanically entrained and carried with the air as it is discharged from the outlet I2. With the air thus exposed successively as its capacity for moisture decreases to moisture in a more readily absorbable form, the maximum efiiciency of the humidifier is obtained.

Before discharge into the room the direction of the air eurrent is twice changed and finally directed upwardly so that any larger spray particles which would not readily float in the air until absorbed are caused to drop out. Deposit of. moisture on the humidifier or condensation of the mist on surrounding furnishings are thus elim-' inated.

The operation of the humidifier will continue until the relative humidity of the room has been raised to the predetermined value, whereupon the operation of the humidifier cease. The deflecting humidostatswitch 54 will again open and the member 42 will be returned to its position within the casing leaving the humidifier with an attractive appearance.

I claim as my invention:

" 1. An humidifier comprising, in combination,

a-casinghaving an inlet and an outlet opening in its lower and upper portions,.a. circumferential flange within the casing positioned intermediate the inlet and outlet openings, operating mechanism within said casing comprising a spray forming device; power means for driving said device,

means for supplying water to said device, and a fan inducing a flow of air through said casing, a frame uniting the operating mechanism into a unitary structure and resting on said flange removably to support the mechanism with' said fan substantially at the level of said flange, and an pump also driven by said motor all arranged to have a common vertical axis, and a frame rigidly combining the humidifying means into an elongated unitary structure and resting upon said fiange to support said means for convenient bodily removal through the upper portion of said.

casing.

3. An humidifier comprising, in combination,.

.thereon a seal preventing and upper portions respectively, a removable hood deflecting the air toward said-outlet opening, an electric motor, a member fast on the shaft of said motor discharging water from its periphery in the form of mist, a fan also rigid with the shaft of said motor operable to induce a flow of air through said casing, a pump operated by an extension of said motor shaft and adapted to convey water from the lower part of said casing and discharge the same onto the upper surface of said member, a frame rigidly uniting said pump with said motorto form a unitary structure, a removable cover for said casing, anda flange within said casing upon which said frame rests to suspend said unitary structure substantially centrally within said casing and adapting it for vertical removal upon opening of said cover and hood.

4. An humidifier comprising, in combination, a casing defining an upwardly extending air duct having inlet and outlet openings in the lower and upper portions thereof respectively, a cover on said casing, an electric motor, a member fast on the shaft of said motor discharging water from its periphery in the form of mist, a fan also rigid with the shaft of said motor operable to induce a flow of air upwardly through said casing, a pump operated by an extension of said motor shaft and adapted to convey water from the lower portion of said casing to said member, a frame rigidly uniting said pump with said motor to form a unitary structure which may be withdrawn from said casing, a flange within said casing substantially midway thereof supporting the unitary structure with the fan substantially at the level of said flange, and a flexible washer on said frame overlapping said flange and forming with the water collecting local or eddy currents within the casing.

5. An humidifier comprising, in combination, a casing defining an upwardly extending air duct having an inlet and an outlet opening, said outlet opening being located in the side of said casing, means inducing a flow of air upwardly through said casing, means forming a spray within said casing to add moisture to the air flowing therethrough,'a converging hood in the upper end of said casing deflecting the air current through said outlet opening, and a prismatic shaped deflecting member projecting outwardly of said opening redirecting the air current upwardly, said member defining a passageway merging with the passageway formed by the hood and converging gradually to the point of discharge.

' 6. A portable humidifier comprising, in combination, a cabinet type casing having a water reservoir in the bottom and having air inlet and outlet openings, means located within said casing for inducing a flow of air through said openings and said casing, means mounted within said casing for drawing water from said reservoir and for producing a spray thereof within said easing,

an humidostat having a wet and dry element control mounted on the casing exteriorly thereof and controlling the operation of the humidifier,

and means within the casing for receiving water from the reservoir and operating to maintain a supply of water for said wet element.

7. An humidifier comprising, in combination, a casing having an inlet and an outlet for the flow of air therethrough, means inducing a flow of air through said casing, a hood within said casing for deflecting the air toward said outlet, means for producing a spray within said casing, an-humidostat of the wet and dry element typemounted on said casingexteriorly thereof and controlling the operation of the humidifier, a

wet and dry element type mounted on said casing exteriorly thereof and controlling the operation of the humidifier, a container within said casing holding a supply of water for moistening said wet bulb element, a wick encasing said wet element and dipping into said container, and condensate collecting means mounted on the interior of said hood delivering the condensate to said container.

9. A cabinet type humidifier comprising, in combination, an upright casing having an inlet and an outlet opening,said outlet opening being located in the side of said casing near the top thereof, means creating a flow of air vertically upwardly through said casing, means forming a spray within said casing to add moisture to the air flowing therethrough, a hood within said casing deflecting the air flow from the vertical, outwardly through the outlet opening, and a prismatic spout-like member' extending outwardly of the opening during the operation of the humidifier redirecting the air flow upwardly to remove excessive mechanically entrained moisture, said member being pivotally mounted in said opening and biased .to swing to closed position flush with the side of the casing when the humidifier is inoperative.

10. A cabinet type humidifier intended to be located in a room to be humidified comprising, in

combination; a casing having inlet and outlet openings, said outlet opening being located in the side wall of said casing, a fan creating a flow of air through said casing, 'means for adding moisture to the air flowing through the casing, a deflecting member mounted in said outlet opening pivotally attached to the lower edge thereof and operable under the air pressure created within said casing when the humidifier is operating to swing outwardly to open position and direct the air flow upwardly, and means acting when the humidifier is inoperative to swing said member to closed position and there by improve the appearance of the humidifier.

' SIMQN E. SCHROEDER. 

